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I agree. I still use my old Lucky Dog mega that I bought in 1995. I happened to find some still in the box old Lucky Dog stock of this whistle on Ebay several years ago for $5.00 including shipping so I bought another one. I really don't buy into the whistle hype too much. I've been to, run in, and worked at a number of field trials. While working at events at the long bird station, I have not heard any real difference in volume among the old mega whistles and the Dallesasse/Green Monster whistles. From what I've heard while working at events, the Answer whistles are by far the worst of the lot. Out in the field, the volume of that whistle seems to be well below that of the others especially in wind. The ability to blow an old mega consistently is a different issue though. A well-known pro I've seen run in many events used the old megas for many years. I noticed recently that he is now using the Dallesasse. He told me the only reason he switched was because some of his clients had an easier time blowing it so despite the fact that he never had problems with getting volume and tone of the megas, he switched just because some of his clients did. Then again, that could also be a Sportdog issue with the quality of the current megas being awful.

"When a good trainer stops learning about dogs, he stops being a good trainer." the late Gene Hill

"If you want to find out what kind of trainer you are, leave your transmitter in the truck." the late Rex Carr

#1. It's hefty. No light weight here. The aluminum is not stamped out, light weight sheet metal. He told me it was machined out of a bar of aluminum and I believe him. Two halves screw together with a flat head allen wrench screw. I haven't had mine apart yet.

On a long water blind where you have to have the whistle in your mouth watching the dog for a misstroke swimming along a shoreline your jaw will be atremblin'. It does for me with the Green Monster and the Dalahasee too.

The sound is different. The Answer has a slightly higher pitch. It seems like the Crobilt whistle is lower pitched and there are two tones which hetrodyne. At least that's what I think I'm hearing. I first tried it swimbying the yearling. She heard it, responded to it no problem. I tried running a 420 yard x-wind land blind with it. I ran out of whistle at ~350 yards. The dog didn't respond to the Answer at that range and wind conditions either. She did a Dalahasee on the way back. That's the only two times I've used it so far.

My gut feeling is that the Answer is a little louder and will reach out a little further. I think the lower pitch and the mixing of two tones might be robbing a little volume/distance from the Crobilt. Don't know for sure and I'll know more in a couple of weeks.

I don't think it's the volume with the Answer,,, it's the pitch. If a dog doesn't respond to a whistle they aren't listening for it. I've run some pretty nasty long crosswind blinds with the Answer in Texas and got a good response.

I don't think it's the volume with the Answer,,, it's the pitch. If a dog doesn't respond to a whistle they aren't listening for it. I've run some pretty nasty long crosswind blinds with the Answer in Texas and got a good response.

Angie

I use the Answer whistle and really like it. Easy and sharp to blow at short distances, easy to apply varying inflection on the whistle for slightly different tones and it can reach out there a ways. The only problem with it is that up her in the Midwest, there are a species of blackbird that mimic sounds and have started seeing more and more popping issues on big blinds. If only the Dalahasee could be a consistent product as I've heard many of their whistles and they all seem a bit different. I'd be willing to switch but don't really feel like buying 10 to find the one that works.